As Charlie went flying, she only had time for one brief thought.
Dayle, I swear I'm gonna- oh, hello chest
She just managed to stop herself from crashing into Royce, a move made less by conscious effort than it was by an instinctual desire to not fall. Frozen with her face inches away from him in a pose that was embarrassingly comical, her eyes panned up to find the man in question glancing at his shirt, then back to her with a sheepish grin.
"Oh," was her smart reply. "Hi Royce."
"I was... uh... just looking... for an earring," she continued, brain struggling for an explanation. "Back there. Behind the dumpster. Because that's where I dropped it. And... then... then I slipped! That's right, I did. On something slimy." Inspired, she straightened and produced her foot, on the bottom of which was a sludge-like material stuck in between the grooves of her sneaker. Ew.
"Noah's back home," Charlie said in response to his inquiry. "Although he did mention that he might drop by the library to go check out some more books, so he might be out." Which, in vampire-speak, meant Noah was out in the forest chasing rabbits for supper while Charlie was out and about, doing crazy, slightly illegal things with the girls.
Speaking of which...
"Actually, do you want to drop by apartment?" she asked, peering down to look at his stained shirt. "I can wash this for you. I sort of caused it anyway, so at least I can do that much. Would that be okay?" Get Royce away from the area so Dayle and Rosemary can do their research, get some quality alone time with the boyfriend- that afternoon was stacking up to be pretty good!